a local law student is hit by a car and left for dead. this moning, her mother begs for answers. another attack. prince george's county police say it happened again. a viole armed robbery just blocks away from the university of maryland campus. and how did they let it happen after taking the lead? washington let the texans take the victory away. good morning, and welcome to "news 4 midday." i'm pat lawson muse. harris shares off thbarbara har morning. a lawtudent for the u.s. senate is in thhospital fig fighting to stay alive. she was badly injured after a hit-and-run accident. news 4's kimberly suiters is live in our newsroom withore. kimberly, what happened? >> pat,aryland state police say the driver thought she hit a deer or a dog and that's why she

said she kept on going, when, nfrt, she hit a young woman from prince george's county, a young woman with a life full of potential and promise. >> why did you decide to run for the u.s. senate? >> because i don't feel that our elected officials are responsive to the needs of their constituents. >> reporter: she's just 30 years old, a third-year law student, but tang a school break to run on the green party ticket. natasha pettigrew's campaign motto is a literal statement, too. she was training for a triathlon when a driver hit her on her bike on campus way in largo early sunday morning. >> my hope is that she is 100% back to where she was when she left the house, and right now i ju want to be le to look at her and recognize her. >> reporter: recognizing her daughter again will take time. and a medical miracle. natasha suffered from multiple broken bones, a head injury, and

lost a kidney in surgery. >> there was a need to resuscitate because there were no vital sign or signs of life, and i was definitely, you know, like to know what would have caused someone to hit another human being on their bicycle, so clearly if you don't see the person, you should have seen the bicycle. >> reporter: the driver told police e didn't see the bike until she drove home and spotted it under her escalade. it was dark at the hour of the accident. state police continued to investigate while natasha pettigres mom continues to pray. >> a single parent, this is my baby and, you know, all i have, so definitely the stronger the prayer circle i'm sure the quicker she will recover. >> reporter: because even though natasha has established a lot in her 30 years her dreams of running have not all been realized. running for office in novemb, running a half marathon the same

month, even running to the stage to get her law deee are dreams deferred right now. natasha was scheduled to speak about her success at her old high school. maryland state police say natasha was riding in one of the lan on central avenue. they haven't found evidence that she was wearing any reflective material. charges against the driver not likely. pat, back to you. >> kimberly suiters, thank you. the university of maryland community is on edge yet again after another robbery and assault just off campus. this most recent attack happened early sunday morning in the parking lot of the college park shopping center on route 1. it's part of a disturbing tren is that has seen six similar attacks since the beginning of august. news 4's megan mcgrath has more on the attacks plaguing that community. >> reporter: well, it's an join going problem. criminals targeting people in the neighborhood surrounding the university of maryland. now the latest incident happened early sunday morning in this

parking lot off of baltimore avenue. the parking lot is well lit and not exactly off the beaten path. but that didn't stop the suspects. early sunday morning, police say three men jumped their victim from behind, assated him and robbed him in the parking lot of the college park shopping center. the crime is the latest in a string of robberies. there have been six such crimes since august 8th. >> every time i'm just shocked and somehow it's not -- it hasn't really sunk in to m that this is a reality for us in this community. >> it's unfortunately not surprising because people have -- criminals have realized that this is where students come through a night. they may not becompletely soesh. they're vulnerable. >> reporter: students have been put on alert. it's uncar if the crimes are connected. all hav happened early in the morning and involve several suspects. in some cases, the criminals have been armed. in other cases, the victims have been beaten. the latest victim does not

attend the university of maryland but several other victims are students. last week, police arrested 19-year-o 19-year-old chenor jah. they are still lookg for two accomplices. despite th arrest, the robberies continue. the university sent an alert out to the entire student body telling them of the latest incint. anyone with any information about theserimes should call prince george's county police. in college park, megan mcgrath, news 4. >> police don't know if any of the robberies are linked, but they are investigating the possibility that they could be. hurricane igor is beginning to weaken as it moves north of bermuda this midday. it's still a category windstorm with wind gusts up to 75 miles per hour, and it continues to bring tropil storm-force winds and surf to bermuda. the island nation was lashed by heavy winds and rain when igor made landfall onsunday. widespread outages have been

reported but no deaths have been reported or damage. igor will continue to rip through the atlantic this week. back here in the nation's capital, taking a look outdoors, looks like another beautiful monday here in washington. tom kierein is here wi the first forecast. a little breezy and a lot of leaves out there, tom. they're starting to turn, yea it's been so dry, a lot of drier leaves are beginning to come down, but our peak foliage is still a month away. usually we get that around halloween. well, right now as we lok at the temperatures, it's a cool morning. it's been in the 60s not just climb boing into the low 70s. ju past 11:00 on this monday, it's 73 at national airport, near 70 at prince george's county, arlington county in the low 70s. it's in the low 70s in montgomery county, near 70 in fairfax county and farther to the south and east in charles, calver, st. mary's, near e bay, mid to upper 70s, upper 70s in central virginia and down

through the carolinas in the low 80s. roanoke is at 80 degrees. out of the mountains of western maryland, west virginia, near 50 this rning, now in the low 60s. eastern shore away from the waters right now near 70. e view from space over the last 12 hours showing a northerly flow coming down from canada as high pressure noses down. it's cleared out our sky. we'll ve plenty of sunshine for the rest of the afternoon. it will be mild, a bit blustery at times, winds gusting to 10 to 25 miles an hour as highs reach the upper 70s to near 80 by midafrnoon. a look at the rest of the week, somehanges on the way as well as the weekend, and we'll look at the troipics, too. that's coming up. t? >> thanks, tom. let's head to the roads now and check out the traffic this midday. jerry edwards is with us from the news 4 traffic network. hey, jry. >> hey, pat. good morning to you. good morning, everyone. well, construction crews have taken an additional travel lane for the midday along 395 northbound, 14th street bridge, not uncommon. delays will begin just about at

the pentagon. right now there are two lanes. when you get on the bridge, additional lane or two, once you get about midspan, delays begin well after the pentagon. not too much in the way of a backup at this hour. good news there. making the trip to southeast, a lot o activity today, construction up on pennsylvania avenue as you head from branch avenue en route toward minnesota avenue. various lane closures, minor delay, but just be aware if you're headed that direction, crews are out working the roadway. we'll keep you updated. pat? >> thank you, jerry. in justbout 15 minutes, cnbc will host a live commercial-free town hall meeting with president obama. the president is expected to talk about the economy, jobs, and the housing market. the town hall meeting wiltake place at the newseum on pennsylvaniavenue and monitored by john harwood, cnbc's chief washington correspondent. again, you can catch this on cnbc starting at noon. today, family and friends are saying so long to a

political activist and scholar. ron walters. there was a memorial service yesterday at howard university. walters spent 25 years at howard but was known to millions around the country for his weekly column on race and politics. he als taught at the university of maryland, and he was a frequent guest analyst on news 4. vernon jordan and theeverend jesse jackson were among those attending the memorial service. walters died september 10th after a long battle with lung cancer. the funeral service is taking place at this hour at shiloh baptist church on ninth street northwest. the services got under way just a few monts ago at 11:00. the doctor who was shot during a standoff at johns hopkins hospital last week is in fair and stable condition this morning. d david cohen was shot in the stomach thursday morning by the son of an elderly patient. police say the gunman, 50-year-old paul partis, lost his come pe surefter dr. cohen delivered news about his mother's condition.

he shot cohen, then killed his mother, then killed himself. frederick police are continuing their investigation today into who killed an armed suspect during a shoot-out with police. it happened arnd 6:00 yesterday morning in the 200 block of market street. police officers approached a man with a rifle following a domestic situation. they exchanged gunfire. the man died during the incident and investigators say they are still trying to figure out whether the officer killed the susct or whether the suspect turned the gun on himself. meanwhile, d.c. police are on the hunt for a person who murdered 21-ar-old ashley mccray in the district. this happened around 3:30 saturday morning along bruce place. police found mccray inside a car whe she had been shot. she was rushed to the hospital, but she was pronounced dead. time now is 11:10. still to come on "news 4 midday," a new way to get around washington. details about a bike-sharing

program that kicks off this morning. ps, a heads-up for commuters in northern virginia. there is a new traffic pattern in place in tysons corner. and when vincent gray becomes the next d.c. mayor, could that mean we pay less for parking meters?

getting around the washington areaas got an little easier on this monday. you can now rent a bike in the district and in arlington. it's part of the capital bike share program. tracee wilkins is live in southeast to tell us how it works. good morning, tracee. >> reporter: good morning. they have this press conference on behind me. they're introducing the bikes, and some of the folksaround here today have been a part of the smart bike program and are now looking forward to this capital bike share program as an opportity to give them just another option in transportation. beginning today, there's a new

form of transportation for folks in the washington area who are looking for a quick trip a a little exercise. capital bike share is an expansion of d.c.'s smart bike program with a few difference including folks ring over to arlington if they like. >> it's a continuation of our bike-sharing system except for having ten stations with 120 bikes, we've expanded to 100 stations in d.c. and 15 more or 14 more in arlington and over 1,000 bikes. >> capital bike share is the largest bike-share program in the country. it cost $5 million to design and will cost $1.4 million a year to operate. they show would-be riders how it all rks. the stations are solar powered. price is the same for smart bikes, $50 for one year's membership to get a bike whenever you want or 24-hour rentals starting al ining at $5.

there are more stations including st of the river. bike rider sas it's an intesting form of transportation but they have some questions. >> if everybody in one community uses them one place they all end up somewhere else, how do they get ba? i'm wondering about the logistics of it. >> some people are using it, and i think more people use it, the longer it's in place and the more locations there are. a self-fulfilling prophesy. >> we seet as the hop around town, three hour on the canal. we want people to use the bike, go to their destinatn, lock it back up, have them available for other people to use so it's more of an alternative to the bus or to metro or to driving your car. >> reporter: so this isn't for all-day excursions, all-day recreational bike riding. it's really go-to get from point a to point b, another option, another form of transportation. this will eventually take over the smart bike system. all you're going to see is the capital bike share. the entire fleet of 1,100 bikes should be completely operational throughout the district by

october. tracee wkins in southeast. back to you in the studio. >> all right. thanks, tracee. traffic alerts. be prepared for longer delays at tysons corner ease busiest intersection. there's a new traic pattern in e effect there. crews closed another ramp at the interchange of chain bridge road and leesburg pike. it's part of the dulles corridor metrorail project. the new exit from route 123 will divert traffic to frontage road south of international drive. from there, you can access route 7. the new pattern will remain in effect until the end of the year. another portion of the fairfax county parkway is now offially open a day ahead of schedule. the segment between rolling road and i-95 opened at 5:00 this morning. the northbound lanes in that area opened on saturday but now all lanes are open. rolling road will now be closed from ridgefield road to chancellor way for a year while crews build an overpass over the parkway. democratic mayoral nominee

vincent gray says he wants to change parking meter rules here in the district. most meeters are only in effect until 6:30 p.m. however, right now in some of the busiest parts of town you have to feed those meters until 10:30. the fenty administration issued the new rules in june to generate $6 million in revenue. the mayor gray rolls back the rules, it would set 17,000 meters in the so-called premium-demand zones in adams morgan, georgetown, and on e national mall, among other places. parking in the district could get cheaper under a new administration. mayor gra the nominee mayor gray says he wants to change d.c. parking meters -- we just told you abouthat. sorry. it's showing up in the teleprompter a second time. moving on, three schools in ann arundel county are enjong a day off due to a water main break. chesapeake middle school, chesapeake high school and folger elementary are closed because of a water main break.

unfortunate for other students in the county, all of the other schools were open for business as usual. time to take a look at that weather, whichlooks pretty good out there, tom. >> it is gorgeous. a beautiful day. the only wrinkle is we need rain. and we don't really have much in the foreseeable future. all theway into next week, looks like a general dry pattern once again. there is the blue sky over washington, northwest washington, in the foreground. in the middle distance is artic arlington county and in the distance, fairfax county. five of the last six months have been drier than average, not onlhere in washington but throughout most ofhe region, we are parched. and as we look at the temperatures elsewhere, well, it's near 70 in fairfax county and arngton county, the low 70s, montgomery and prince george counties, in the bay, low to mid-70s now, the lower neck, eastern shore, right near 70.

to west, upper 60s, parts of western maryland, shenandoah valley, far western maryland and west virginia, many locations in the higher elevations only near 60 so it's a coolmorning there. eastern shore near 70. mid-70s in southeastern and southern virginia. now it's near 80 degrees on the carolina border. over the last 12 hours we've had this high pressure pushing down from nada at's cleared out our sky. meanwhile in the tropics it is active. hurricane igor passed just 17 miles from the center of circulation from bermuda over the weekend yesterday. now it's rapidly exiting north and east about 20 miles an ur and the winds have diminished from 7 sustained to higher gusts, but it continues to move away out to sea. tropical storm julia is weakening well and this may be a new tropical storm, lisa. it's now a cluster of clouds. we have to keep an eye on that. but it may become a named tropical storm in anotr coue days. meanwhile, a couple waves heading toward the central islands, the leeward islands to the east of there, and then to the west of there, south of

hispaniola, theres another cluster of some storms. keep aneye on that. south of puerto rico and dominican republic, that may turn into a tropical system as well. closer to us, we can see the extent of this high pressure from southern ontario all across new england, all the way down to the carolinas. a general clear pattern on this monday. and over the next 48 hour, this high pressure that is over southern ontario will come right near us overnight tonight and bring in some of that canadian chill. it will be in place tomorrow morninwith temperatures in many locations in the 40s, then during the day tomorrow we'll begin to drift off the coast and by tomorrow evening we'll see our winds shifting to the south and west and that'll increase our warmth for wednesday. meanwhile, the front will be sliding across the great lakes with some rain there. that may make it down here wednesday night into thursday. but for the re of th monday, enjoy the sunshine, afternoon temperatures reaching near 80. winds out of the north and northwest gusting to around 20 to 25 miles an hour. ornight tonight we'll have that nearly full moon up in a clear sky, 60s through the evening. then, yes, many locations in the

40s tomorrow morning except right in the citi. it will be in the 50s. our sunset 7:08. sunrise, 7:55 on tuesday. and tomorrowlots of sunshine, we should make it into the upper 70s during the afternoon with a diminished wind and then as we get into tuesday night and wednesday, winds shifting into the south and west and bringing in some clouds, too, along with the warmth. we should make it into th mid and upper 80s on wednesday and again thursday and just a small chance of a shower wednesday night. a greater chance on thursday. but that's the only indication of any rain here all the way into the rest of the week and the weekend. friday, paly cloudy, mideighty, then coolindown again for the weekend, saturday and sunday. partly cloudy both days and seasonal temperatures for late september. that is the way it looks on this monday morning. so we're raking early this year. >> yeah. it's been so dry, a lot of those leaves are starting to come down. >> tha you, tom. check out the morning traffic now. midday traffic. jerry edwards is in the news 4 traffic network. hi, jerry. hey, pat.

some veryeavy traffic for those of you planning on traveling eastund i-66, through fair oaks, en route to vienna, traffic at a crl. it is roadwork that's set up. they're working toen the guardrail, crews are. eastbound 66, 123 with the left lane taken away so, traffic is on the slow side. a couple of work zones westbound 66 leavg the beltway toward vienna and fair oaks, as well. so just heads up for that. take you up to 270 northbound, a little ha to tell here in this camera but there is a construction zone. 270 northbound near shady grove road, right lane, not much to worry about as fars delays. southbound finally at this hour, finally has cleared out for the morning commute. good news. pat? >> all right. thank you, jerry. it's 11:23. still ahead, a comeback the size of texas. washington tries to explain what happened last night after blowing a 17-point leadnd then losing to the houston texans. plus, are you planning a little travel over the holidays?

if so,e have some tips to help you find the best air fare deals. but first, here's a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com.

it took a texas-sized comeback to take down washington last night. the houston texans pulled it off in a 30-27 overtime win thanks

to a timely stopping of the clock. washington held a 17-point lead in th third quarter, and many thought they had this game won on their own 52-yard fielgoal. but texans' coach gary kubiak had quickly called a time-out just before the ball was snapped for the kick. on his second try, the kicker ssed, wide right, giving the texans the ball back. then houston drilled home their own field goal for the win. coach mike shanahan says it was a disappointing way to lose but he was happy with the way the team played. >> bottom line is they got it done and, yu know, we didn't. so had to go back and be pretty tough on yourself. the thing i was pleased with is our football team played hard, you know, througut the game. just made a few too many mistakes at crucial times. >> both quarterbacks had impressive showings on offense with over 900 yards passing combined. it was a bad night for the giants, as well, and apparent

running backrandon jacobsook it out on his helmet. the helmet ended up in the stands in the third quarter. jacobs said he went to throw his helmet at the bench and it missed, flying into the stands. the fans, of course, wanted to keep the souvenir, but security made them give that back. the showdown between the manning brothers was a blowout. colts won that game 38-14. well, kids who pay sports in washington might have to sit out a little longer if they suffer a concussion while playing. d.c. council member phil ndelson will introduce a bill that would require youngsters to be examined by professionals if they think they suffered a concussion. the athlete could only return to play if cleared by a licensed healthare provider. this legislation is based on a law originally introduced in washington state and similar laws hve been passed in a number of other states. our time now is 11:28. still ahead on "midday," tragedy

on the eld. a teen football star dies after throwing a touchdown pass. this morning his mother is talked about what happened. and the american woman freed from iran comes home, and her homecoming coincides with another anticipated visit to the u.s. and will it be another warm week? tom will be back withn update on our forecast.

police are investigating another robbery and assault near the university of maryland campus. the attack happened early yesterday morning in the paing lot of the college park shopping center. it's the sixth such attack since the beginning of august. president obama will host a town hall meeting live on cnbc in about a half an hour. the president will speak about jobs, the economy, and the housing market. the town hall will be moderated by john harwood, cnbc's chief washington correspondent. you can now rent a bike in the district and in arlington. it's part of the capital be share program, which launched today. you can check out a bike at more than 100 stations. the first 30 minutes of each trip are free, and then the price goes up from $1.50 to $6 depending on how long you use the bike. the final cleanup is under way in the gulf of mexico. tms are leaving the area of the spill after successfully sealing the fractured deepwater horizon well. but for many along the coast,

the fight agains the oil continues, and today that fight comes here to washington. nbc's jay gray is in venice, louisiana, to explain what's next. >> reporter: it began april 20th with a massive fireball and deadly flames cutting through he night air. as the deepwater horizon rig exploded, then collapsed. 11 lives were lost, and oil began to seep into the gulf, the start of the worst spill in u.s. history. now, 154 days later, government scientists say the final seal, 74 barrels of cement, is holding tight and that the well will never leak aga. president obama acknowledged the work that's been done and perhaps the more difficult job that lies ahead in a written statement which says, in part, we will continue to work closely with the people of the gulf to rebuild their livelihoods and restore the environment that supports them. my administration will see our community, our businesses and

our fragile ecosystems through this difficult time. difficulties that continue to wash up along the gulf coast. cleanup continues every day, but it seems the oil is winning. >> we can't fix this on our own or rebuild this on our own. we need help from the whole country, really. we need everybody. >> reporter:ate they are morning, parish leaders from here in louisiana will be in washington, honing to drive home that point with lawmakers on capitol hill. jay gray, nbc news, venice, louisiana. hurricane igor continues to weaken but remains a strong and powerful storm this midday. the category 1 storm is still packing wind gusts up to 75 miles per hour, and it continues to proce tropical storm-force winds and surf to bermuda. the island was lashed by heavy winds and rain when igor made landfall on suny.

widespread flooding has been reported but no deaths and no major damage. igor will continue to affect the atlantic through the week bringing strong rip currents and large waves to the east coast. tom, will we get any rain here? >> no rain from that b heavy surf on our atlantic beaches and some rip currents likely there in the next couple days. igor is such anenormous storm. it's weakened a lot. it's had enormous effect on the entire western atlantic. jt looking at some of the buoys that are 100 miles off our coast. they have 10, 15 footaves just 100 miles off the coast. some of the higher waves will begin to hit our atlantic seaboard later today and perhaps part of this week. a live view from the skywatcher camera. lookingt the high-rises of friendship heights and chevy cha chase, downtown bethesda and montgomery county all under this blue sky on this monday morning. and temperatures around the region now in the low to mid-70s. it's now 73 in washington. it'll continue to climb to near 80 by midafternoon, lots of sun,

then overnight tonight, clear, 60s through the evening, then 50s after midnight to upper 40s by dawn tomorr. so quite a clear start on tuesday, lots of sun tomorrow afternoon with highs in the upper 70s. then on wednesday, warmer as it will see our winds shifting into the south and west and get gus wednesday afternoon. it will warm into the upper 80s. increasing clouds as well. chance for a needed shower perhaps wednesday night and again on thursday, looks like the greater chance thursday and hot again, too, thursday. friday into the mid-80s and partly cloudy and a bit cooler for the weekend but looking mostly dry, just a small chance of a shower on sunday. and that is the way it looks on this monday morning. we need the rain and not much of a chance in the foreseeable future. >> all right, tom. thanks a lot. well, let's check out the midday rush, we'll call it. jerry edwards has traffic for us. hey, jerry. > hey, pat. let's head on out. authorities justoments ago were dispatched to check on the report of an accident on the beltway reported on the outer loop between georgia avenue and connecticut avenue. i see one vehicle on the left

shoulder on the inner loop. don't know if that's what they're looking for. but nevertheless, heads up if you're headed to that direction as thundershowers are in route. one more stop. the backup has pretty much dissipated, very good news. however, the far left lane does remain closed. the inbound 14th street bridge right now two lanes to give out midspan, then additional travel lanestough merge off the w. parkway. but if everybody's kind we're gog to get through it just fine. pat? >> that's encouraging. thank you, jerry. the midterm elections are now just a month and a half away. president obama heads to philadelphia today to help raise money for a democra who could help his party maintain control of congress. but republicans and tea partyers see an opportunity to take over. nbc's tracie potts has more from capitol hill. >> reporter: this weekend, president obama aims straight for the heart of hisarty -- black voters. >> tell them that the time for

action is now. >> reporter: the challenge of this upcoming election for both sides, the tea party americans fed up wit washington. quit telling the american people don't worry about it. everything's going to be okay despite the fact we have $13.4 trllion of debt. >> reporter: democrats are trying to use the party's fringe to sway those in the middle. >> the control is in tea party candidate who iso not speak for independent or moderate voters at all. >> reporter: republicans are split, distancing thepss from the tea party's more radical elements while trying to capitalize on this message. >> for everyerson who takes up a sign and goes to a tea party rally, there are thousands of american who is agree with them. >> meantime, president obama is bearing down on big-money interests. >> it's a power grip, pure and simple. they're hoping they can ride this wave of unchecked influence all the way to victory. >> reporter: the elections now just six weeks away. starting next week, mr. obama is holding four big rallies around the country, trying to energize the young voters who helped elect him two years ago.

tracie potts, nbc news, washington. there is a new push to free the tworemaining american hikers held in iran. the mothers have requested a meeting with iran ran president mahmoud ahmadinejad. he's here in the u.s. the ts week for the meeting of the general -- nation -- united nations general assembly. yesterday, the only american freed from the iranian prison returned to the u.s. sarah shourd flew into dulles and then on to new york. she called for release of her fian fiance, shane bauer, and their friend, josh fattal. >> with my spirit bruised but unbroken. and i am more determined than ever that shane and josh, god willing, will soon walk out the same way. >> shourd spt more than 13 months in one of iran's most notorious prisons. the three were arrested while hiking in 2009 and have been accused of spying. the iranian government sayst

leased shourd on humanitarian grounds because of medical concerns. meanwhile, president ahmadinejad met with the u.n. secretary-gener secretary-general. he's scheduled to speak at a summit today and to address the u.ns general assembly later this week. several groups are organizing protests criticizing the human rights situation in iran and its nuclear program. a texas town is in mourning this midday after losing not only a star football player but a star citizen in their community. high school quarterck reggie garrett collapsed on the field after throwing a touchdown pass on friday night. he died later that night. nbc's kerry sandersas this story. >> reporter: tragedy hit the playing field without warning. 17-year-old gh school quarterback reggie garrett had just tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass. he celebrated with his teammates, and as they headed to the sidelines, reggie collapsed. he never regaied consciousness.

assistant coach toby fullman. >> the crowd, ourids, our coachig staff, our community, i think t other team, as well, everybody was pretty much in shock. >> reporter: reggie was rushed to the hospital. histeammates were told he passed aay many the last minute of the game. reggie lived up to the role of quarterback, say his coaches. he was a leader, a staout, but few knew the kid with such a strong arm had in his early teens experienced a series of seemingly innocuous seizus. paramedics say they now believe reggie had a massive izure he could not overcome. >> he was definitely a role model. heaven got a great quarterback. >> reporter: in much of the country, including texas, screening policies fortude student-athle/athletes differ r to region. reggie had a checkup with his own doctor in july and it showed no abnormalities. here they really do live high

school football in that "friday night-lights" tradition. when reggie died, just about everyone in town was at the stadium. >> the stadium got real quiet, and, you know, it was very surreal. >> reporter: on the day reggie garrett died, his team won the game, but they lost a friend. his life, now memorialized on facebook, aeath that friends say seems so unfair. for "today," kerry sander, nbc news. >> reggie garrett's mother, joanne parkinson, and coach dan hooks joined ann curry on the "today" show this morning to talk about reie. both talked about the moments leading up to his tragic death, and both say that there were never any concerns about reggie's health. >> he ha a physical last year with me and four doctors, this year with his doctor here in orange. no sig of any health conditions whatsoever. >> he reported in excellent

condition. he was first in everything he did. he never showed any signs of a health problem. you know, it was just outf the blue. it shocked everybody. >> reggie garrett was one of the top high school quarterbacks in texas and was being recruited by several top colleges. fewer people died becausef distracted driving last year. the transportatn department reported 5,474 people were killed in accidents in 2009 involving distracted driving. that's down 6%. distracted driving accounted for 16% of all traffic deaths in 2009. transportation secretary ray lahood says the problem is still an epidemic. tomorrow he's kicking off a second summit on distracted driving. our time now is 11:43. and still ead on "news 4 midday," it may only be september, but it's never too soon to start thinking about the holidays, especlly if you plan to travel. why you may want to look into

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a popular shoe store in new york has shut down because of bed big nike temporarily closed its flagship store, nike town, after bedbugs were found. the company says it's working

with exterminators now to fix the problem and they hope to reopen the stores soon. new york city has a growing bedbug problem that has closed several other stores. time now to take a look at our business news this morning. let's check in with cnbc's courtney reagan. good morning, courtney. >> good morning. stocks higher across the board, the dow up by about 107 points. it's goods after we had a sluggish start, higher from the beginning but not so much. we've really kind of jumped leaps and bounds as faas the gains are concerned today. this is after we're coming off our third straight week of gains. asian marks mostly quiet overnight. japan, asia's biggest market, i closed for a holiday. stocks are positive as well so a little momentum from our trading partners overseas. it's gong to be a fairly busy week ahead for investors. topped off by tomorrow's fed meeting. the central bank is not expected to move on interest rates. they certainly conditio lower them when they're near zero, but they could signal future measure, such as buying large amounts of bonds and other

securities. we'll have reports on housing, manufauring, and unemployment this week. assets minus mortgages and debts fell about 3% this spring to $55 trillion due to a big drop in investments. that's the first quarterly decline since the dark days of the financial crisis. it works out to about $182,000 per person. well, facebook is denying it's working on a mobile phone. tech crunch reports that facebook is building the software and a third party is making the hardware. tech crunch says google repeatedly denied similar reports last year right up until it unveiled its nexus one phone. so you never know. it could be, koul not be. we'll just have to wait and see. i have to tell you, t, it's a very exciting day here at cnbc. about 12 minutes from now, a live town hall with president obam commercial free. there's 300 people in the audience that are going to ask the president questions about the economy. back to you. >> lots to ask about. >> yeah. >> thanks, courtney.

have a good day. >> thank you. >> for those of you heading out of town for the upcoming holiday, you may want to book the ticket now. prices for ights around thanksgiving and christmas are expected to be high they a year thanks to plenty of demand from travelers. nbc's chris clackum has more on how to save for your holiday ip. >> reporter: holiday travelers better brace themselves for airline fares that are soaring as fast as a passenger jet. mainly because of those add-on fees including one in particular. >> one of the new fees that they've all snuck in is a fee for peak travel days. >> reporter: fees like that have led to a serious review by federal regulators. >> for the first time in a decade the secretary of transportation is looking at changing regulations about what the airlines have to tell us when we're buying airline tickets. >> reporter: t action before he holidays isn't likely. travel experts say there will be plenty of peak travel days

betwn thanksgiving and new year's, adding to the increased cost of flying this year. >> seats will be available at a low price, a finite number. and you really want to start booking earlier than you have in the past. >> reporter: booking earlier as in right now. the advice is go online, look for an airline peak travel chart, then just avoid booking flights those days. and if at all possible, choose fly on the holiday itself. >> thanksgiving day is one of the lightest airline traffic days in the entire year. christmas day is, as well. >> reporter: early october is the latest you're likely to find bargain fares to fly around the holidays. chris clackum,bc news. time now is 11:50. and still ahead this morning - >> let's go now. >> "the event" is finally here. a behind-the-scenes look at

c's newest fall series. plus, tom kiere will be back to tell us more about the weather.

it's the question a whole lot of folks are asking -- what is the "the event"? tonight is your chance to start finding out. "the event" premieres tonight on nbc 4, just one of several new

shows coming to prime time. mark barger has a preview. >> i just wanted to bring you here and sort of freeze this moment in time. >> reporter: uner normal circumstances, an island getaway might call fi as "the event." >> a guy propose and have a beautif life. >> reporter: but normal circumstances don't apply on a show called "the event." >> kind of gets shaken up and turned upside down and everything goes in the wrong direction. >> reporter: jason ritter and sara roemer play a couple sucked into a global conspiracy. >> they're both invved in something much bigger than they ever could have imagined. >> reporter: it has ritter jumping off cliff, running fm guards, pulling a gun on a ple, and if that weren't enough -- >> leila? you okay? >> it's so much fun to be able to play this character that h to do all these incredible things but is also a guy like me. >> reporter: but if ritter's playing the average guy, playing the not so average gal.

>> we have to prott ourself. >> reporter: the leader, a group of mysterious government detainees. >> can i count on you? >> my character is extremely enigmatic, a woman that you don't kind of know is she good or is she bad. >> reporter: it's out of play to the president to figure tt out. >> it's going to make a lot of americans nervous. >> it is a political thriller but also very mysterious. >> reporter: enough to pull an average guy onto a collision course with the president. >> we have to evacuate. >> what's going on? >> reporter: mark baer, nbc news. >> and following "the event" will be another new show. this one is "chase." it follows annie frost, the leader of a group of u.s. marshalls, as they hunt down criminals in texas to get an idea of how marshals work, the st spent time with their real-life counterpart. it premieres at 10:00 following the premiere of "the e event" at

9:00. you can see thatn nbc 4. looks like an interesting season coming up. and let's take a look at some of the stories we're following on new4 this afteoon. childhood esity is a growing problem, but if you are a parent, you and your kids can get their weight under control. we'll get some advice from a personal trainer about fun things you can do with your kids to help them stay fit. and tonight on news 4 at 5:00, critics are calling them frankenfish, and one could end up on your dinner plate soon. those stories plus your forecast starting tonight on news 4 at 4:00. and time now to take a look at the final forecast. tom is here. how would you like to try a frankenfish? >> whnot. i love fish. good for you. good brain food. >> it is good brain food. >> a wonderful day on the waya blue sky. there's the national cathedral in theiddle distance. on the right, potomac river, low humidity, temperatures around the region into the 70s and will peak near 80 by midafternoon. a hit bitof a blustery

northwest win tonight it should be mostly clear, a chilly start to tuesday, in the 40s tomorrow in most locations, afternoon highs climbing into the upper 70s and then increasing clouds and warmer weather moving in for wednesday and thursday. small chance of a shower, wednesday night, greater chance thursday, then dry. into the weekend, a small chance a shower on saturday and sunday. see you tomorrow morning. >> thank you, tom. well, a meeting between two guinness world recor holders turns into one of the ranger photo-ops ever. the world's tallest man, 8'3", met the world's shortest woman, 2'4". amazingly, both record holders are from turkey. the two met at the launch of the latest edition of the guinss book. two very different people with a lot in common. and that's "news 4 midday." thank you for joining us this morning. be sure to come back and join news 4 beginning at 4:00, 5:00, d 6:00 later today for the latest on this day's news. we'll be back tomorrow morning at 11:00 with "news 4 idday." until then, have a great day and

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